A Smile To Light Up The Dark
by sunniebelle
Summary: A new face at the local Coffee shop has a profound effect on Doctor John Smith's mood. Will this be the start of something wonderful, or will his stubbornness be an impassable roadblock?


Standing in the queue at the Cozy Corner Coffee Shop with all the other people who quite obviously didn't have anywhere else to go or somewhere important to be, Doctor John Smith rolled his eyes impatiently and crossed his arms over his chest. Perhaps if he scowled enough at the people in front of him, they would move faster and let him be on his way.

Unfortunately that seemed to make time crawl past even slower.

Becoming quite irritated with all the stupid apes in front of him, who were quite obviously more interested in their phones or talking to one another than going about their day, John considered simply leaving and going on to the university. His class would be starting in ten minutes and he was rarely ever late. But then, his students likely wouldn't care anyway.

Not able to help one more roll of his eyes, he uncrossed his arms and stuffed his hands in his leather jacket's pockets. He reminded himself that walking past the university's sharp-as-a-whip secretary, Donna Noble, without her tea would not be worth the tongue lashing he would receive.

Five minutes later he was finally able to place his order. As he reached for his wallet, his nose was tickled by the familiar and tantalizing scent of bananas.

"What is that? Something with bananas? I didn't know you sold anything with bananas." he asked the barista who was busy making his and Donna's teas.

"Oh, we didn't until a few days ago. Hey, Rose, someone's asking about you're baking." the pretty boy barista said.

Looking at the case, John saw that someone was bent over behind it putting baked goods into the glass display case. When she stood, John had to remind himself to not gape like a bloody school boy.

She was young and lovely, with bright, playful amber-brown eyes, bottle-blonde hair that was like a halo upon her head and her full pink-tinted lips were pulled into a smile that seemed to light the room.

Feeling every bit like a juvenile, he suddenly remembered that he needed his brain to work and not simply stare at this beautiful woman. After all, she probably wouldn't look at him twice, not with his daft old face.

"Hi, I'm Rose," she said, reaching over the counter to offer her hand in greeting. "Rose Tyler. Just started here last Friday."

"John. Doctor John Smith." He took her hand—and his knees did not tremble from the almost electric shock that raced up his arm at her touch.

The smell of bananas wafted over to him again, reminding him of why he was being introduced to her in the first place.

"What do you have then?" he asked, finally looking away and to the glass case.

She rattled off a few different types of muffins, three of which were banana-themed and several cakes and pastries.

"I'll take three of the banana nut muffins and one blueberry, if you please."

She smiled at him with the tip of her tongue showing and he forced himself to not let his eyes follow that teasing tongue.

"You have a thing for bananas or something?" she asked, and he absolutely _did not_ blush.

"Bananas are good. Full of potassium, they are."

She smiled that teasing smile at him again and handed him a brown bag at the same time as the barista placed his teas on the counter. He finally remembered to pull out his wallet, paid and made a rather hasty goodbye as he exited.

Feeling a fool, he walked quickly, his long runner's legs getting him to the campus in record time. Taking a moment to drop off her tea and a blueberry muffin, he gruffly dismissed Donna's chatter and made his way to his classroom.

The rest of his day was spent in a daze, as all he seemed to remember was Rose's smile and bright eyes. When he finally ate the muffins, he let out a moan as he bit into them. They were fantastic! He would have been horribly embarrassed at the sound—and would've grumpily denied having done it—if it wasn't for the fact that he was in the privacy of his office.

Over the next two weeks he became a regular at the Cozy Corner Coffee Shop, ordering tea or coffee and always getting one or two varieties of Rose's banana themed treats on his way to work.

Donna was relentless in asking him why he was suddenly in such a great mood all the time and suspiciously asked why he was bringing her muffins with her tea every day. He snippily told her that is she didn't want them, to give it back and he'd be on his merry way, which quieted her grousing.

He tried to speak with Rose every time he went to the coffee shop and always left with a brighter smile than when he came in.  
One day, on a whim, he stopped by after work and found it was almost completely empty. He felt inordinately pleased that he'd timed his visit at the end of her shift. He was rather surprised that she didn't rush home, but instead asked him to sit with her. They sat at the back of the shop and chatted about anything and everything while sipping on tea.

When the conversation lagged, Rose looked up at him and suddenly said, "I have a question."

"I might have an answer," he retorted, causing her to smile.

Then her smile turned shy. "Would you...would you like to get a bite to eat later? With me? Ya'know, somewhere that serves more than breakfast treats? There's a really great chippy round the corner."

He stared at her, completely gobsmacked. She played with her gold hooped earring as words began to tumble form her lips.

"'S just, you seem really nice and I thought, maybe we could spend some more time together." She looked up at him nervously.

He was desperately telling his brain to reboot, since his ability to process and create words seemed to have malfunctioned.

"You want to go out? With me?" he asked her incredulously.

Searching his face, she nodded.

He couldn't understand it. This beautiful, funny, smart young woman not only seemed to like him, but was wanting to spend more time with him. Him!

"I just...I never expected you to glance at me twice. Daft old man that I am. I thought you would've been interested in that pretty boy that works here." He said, trying to keep the jealousy from seeping into his tone, but knowing he failed completely.

"Adam?" she asked, confused. "He's alright. But he's just a friend. He's too...full of himself for my taste." She paused. "And you're not daft or old, John."

It was the first time she had called him by his name. He found that he liked how it sounded coming from her lips.

Smiling gently, he said, "Have to disagree with you. I'm more than ten years you're senior."

Her face fell and her eyes lost a little of their spark as she looked down at the table, her fingers absently playing with the rim of her empty cup.

Something twisted in his heart, seeing that light in her eyes fade and knowing he had caused it.

Reaching across the table he placed one of his hands atop hers and gave it a little squeeze, causing her eyes to rise to meet his serious gaze.

"But I'd be a bloody fool to turn down an offer spend more time with you." He searched her face and felt his smile grow when her own stretched across her face. He had a sudden longing to make her smile like that every day and only for him.

Within a few minutes they were walking down the street, hand in hand. He knew that he had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face and couldn't bring himself to care one bit. He felt her head rest on his should and looked down at her, his smile becoming impossibly wider.

Oh, but he was a goner for sure. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Part of Tumblr's Writer's Month Writing Challenge for August 2019.  
All rights for Doctor Who and it's characters belong to the BBC.  
Day 3 prompt: coffee shop AU


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